Press freedom in Brazil was hostage to violence against journalists in 2012. Just days before the end of 2012, another case was announced that illustrated the escalating hostility and threats against reporters.
Journalists have not escaped the violence that has dominated life in Colombia over the last several years. According to statistics from the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP in Spanish), 160 reporters were victims of some kind of threat, violence, illegal detention or killing in 2011.
n Argentine journalist said he should be admitted to a hospital after breathing an airborne pesticide fumigated in a field 50 meters outside the town center of Alberti, Buenos Aires province, reported the newspaper Hoy.
A photographer in the Brazilian state of Roraima alleged the head of the state's military police attacked him and ejected him from a government event on Dec. 23, 2012, reported the newspaper Folha de São Paulo.
Reporter Mauri König was advised to leave Brazil due to threats he received after publishing accusations against the police in Paraná state, reported the newspaper Folha de São Paulo.
A court in Ecuador denied an injunction that sought to rescind an executive order from President Rafael Correa prohibiting his ministers and other public officials from giving interviews to private media, arguing that there was no evidence of a "violation of a constitutional right".
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) admitted the case of murdered Colombian journalist Hernando Rangel Moreno, reported the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) in a press release on its website on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.
The organization Article 19 posted five videos on its website about the working conditions of Mexican journalists. The videos consist of interviews with Mexican journalists who talk about their experiences first hand covering violence and organized crime.
In a request for protection, Chilean journalist Mauricio Weibel said he was not the only one facing intimidation for his investigations into the country’s military dictatorship.
Mexican television network Televisa requested the attorney general of Nicaragua invesitgate whether a current employee of the broadcaster signed the letter of accreditation presented by 18 Mexicans accused of money laundering while impersonating journalists in the Central American country, according to El Siglo de Torreón. Nicaraguan authorities charged the Mexicans who posed as Televisa reporters and tried to enter the country on Aug. 20 without declaring $9.2 million.
The obstacles keep coming for the distribution of Colombian-American Santiago Villa's documentary on President Rafael Correa. According to the Ecuadorian NGO Fundamedios, YouTube and Vimeo took down the video after the company Ares Rights brought a lawsuit for copyright infringement.
The Colombian Federation of Journalists (FECOLPER) called the closure of the newspaper El Liberal in the city of Popayán, Cauca on Saturday, Dec. 15, a blow to freedom of expression. The loss of the newspaper will leave the region hardest hit by unemployment, poverty and armed conflict without a newspaper, according to a statement from the organization.